Kosmos

Culture, travel, fashion and culinary delights: the Kosmos pages of Lufthansa Magazin bring you interesting and useful tidbits from around the world

Secret island happiness

It doesn’t always have to be Mallorca – or Ibiza, Crete or Corsica for that matter, either. There are thousands of other islands in the Mediterranean alone. Our expert knows a few wonderful, lesser-known spots.

Gavdos, Greece

The 1970s are still going strong: Visitors to Gavdos, Europe’s southernmost island, still sleep on the beach as in the wildest hippy days. Some stay for weeks or even months on Gavdos.

Comino, Malta

Caves, shipwrecks, tunnels – Comino, Malta’s small neighbor, has plenty to offer divers. For snorkelers, there’s the popular blue lagoon to explore. Stay on after the day trippers have gone home and you have the three-and-a-half square kilometers of island almost all to yourself.

Procida, Italy

With about 10 500 inhabitants on about four square kilometers, no other Mediterranean island is as densely populated as Procida. Best of all, it’s still worth making the trip! While its sister, Ischia, attracts hordes of tourists, Procida is still very much the real Italy.

Frankenstein

Mary Shelley’s novel about a man-made creature was published in 1818 and spawned countless stage and film adaptations. Renowned Gothic scholar Sir Christopher Frayling documents the evolution of this phenomenon in his new book.

Culture clash

Just follow your nose? The sense of smell tends to be undervalued in the West but has a high status in many other cultures:

SMELL THE BABY

The Serer-Ndut people in Senegal believe in reincarnation and that a child’s scent reveals which ancestor has been reborn. The matter is settled if there’s a resemblance.

ACKNOWLEDGE THE NOSE

“How is your nose” is the common greeting used by the Ongee people. Smell is the prime sense for the Andaman islanders in Southeast Asia, and their calendar is dictated by the blossoming periods of certain flowers.

LISTEN TO THE FLOWERS

Smell? Hearing? For the Dogon in Mali these two senses overlap, with language having an odor and flowers a sound. They love the sound/scent of onions, which both sexes rub over their bodies.

Razor sharp

Songs like “Mr. Brightside” and “Human” catapulted The Killers to the higher echelons of independent rock. The band from Las Vegas is touring with its latest – and fifth – album. Catch The Killers on February 27 in Berlin and March 5 in Cologne.